Was heading down to Maricopa to spend the night before Big Pine Mountain the next day, decided to leave a few hours early and visit Pinos and Sawmill, with a little Grouse thrown in for fun. Easy hike, and surprisingly beautiful weather on the mountain while the lowlands baked in 100+ degree heat. TR is HERE.

Beautiful day, excellent walk. 9 miles, 2500 ft. Elevation gain. Blessed my day at the Chumash prayer tower, with Buddhist prayer flags and all. Quite a rock cairn marking the summit of Sawmill. Grouse Mountain summit cairn is hard to find. It is in the pines. Mt. Pinos summit marker is over by the radio tower.

From the Nordic Base parking lot, I hiked over Pinos to Sawmill Mountain on May 23, 2013, starting around noon. No snow, beautiful weather. Temperatures 62 to 65 in the sun, 55 degrees in the shade. Cool winds about 3 to 5 mph off the marine layer below, over the valleys. Blue sky above with chilly gusts up to 15 to 20 mph at times. Made for a brisk 4 hour, 7 mile hike above 8000 feet. Good preparation for moving up in elevation. 10,000 feet is next....

Hiked this along with Sawmill last Saturday. Was planning to add Grouse as well, but missed the turn & ended up just adding several miles through the forest. It was a beautiful day with only a little snow left. Once I got past Mt Pinos summit, I didn't see anyone until the return trip between Pinos & Sawmill.

An out and back trip including Mt. Pinos, Sawmill Mtn., Grouse Mtn., and Cerro Noroeste. Surprisingly cold and windy day with some snow flurries starting around noon. Probably the coldest day I have hiked on this year - in May!